Another scar on the pock-marked face of Jimena

JIMENA (Source: TioJimeno) This photo was published without much comment on the Spanish 'blog of record'. It is of a section of the town that links the upper part of the village with it's 'downtown' neighbourhood. In other words, Paseo Cristina almost opposite the Peña Flamenca. The arches could be ancient or not, the rubble, in terms of neglect, certainly is. The rubbish dump is ... well, you name it.

They managed it at last!

Day after day, evening after evening, night after night, the usual idiots were determined to destroy the exercise machines by the steps up to the pensioners' day centre. Despite some vigilance on my part and apparently none from any authorities  -my own recriminations elicit nothing more than aggression and even danger- there they have been and, finally, they managed to destroy one of the machines. One down, several more to go.

More destruction just because...

Beautiful morning. Headed up to El Paseo, up the steps by the pensioners' day centre and what do we see? The old wall is being knocked down little by little. It happens we had taken photos of this a couple of weeks ago but didn't put them up because there was other stuff under Fotos Denuncia that seemed more urgent in the same area (Destruction for destruction's sake) and which was repaired almost immediately. But the wall's destruction had begun at about the same time. This morning it was much worse. In fact, the wall needs serious and urgent attention, it is moving downhill rapidly and could become dangerous to the elderly using the steps - but it does not need this much help. (More pics below)>

In response to 'destruction for destruction's sake'

This came in via e-mail, about our previous item: "I took my sister up to the castle today and round the side past the Moorish Queens Bath to the lovely carved out rock with the overhanging bit. Have not been there for ages, it is true, but was horrified to see someone had sprayed a horrible graffitti 'tag' on there. Why, why, why?! You can use my picture if you want but please don't print my name as I don't want 'la ruina' either!!!" PLEASE, IF YOU HAVE ANY PHOTOS OF THIS KIND OF THING, SEND THEM IN! WE MUST STOP IT!

Destruction for destruction's sake

(By Prospero/Alberto) This is how I found a railing this morning. On the floor but forced there with a great deal of strength. As I came back from Henrietta's party last night (pics later on that) I came across three boys aged about 13 or 14, breaking a street lamp just outside the pensioners' day centre, a little further up the steps from the railing. I don't know if they were the perpetrators of the railing destruction but when I told them off I was threatened with 'the ruin' (la ruina is something like 'a lot of trouble for you'). I could denounce them as I am able to identify them, but is it worth the hassle?

Why did this happen?

Like all its mates, this orange tree was doing very nicely on Jimena's main square - until the feria, two weekends ago. A bar went up there and was used for two weekends, the other being the Oba concert. There was a grill just under the tree - is that what killed it? Why? Is the concessionnaire of the bar going to pay to replace it? Why are the barrels full of sand still there?  Why are kids allowed to play with the sand they contain? Lots of whys - why?

'De ce?' means 'Why?' in Rumanian

A growing amount of graphitti is appearing on the walls behind the Pensioners Day Centre. One of the items is in, we believe, Rumanian, which rather gives away the perpetrators. - not that one can be sure, of course, except that Prospero uses the steps day and night...) Fortunately we have no idea if what they say is offensive, but, as you can see below, the habit is growing. Of course, we won't mention the scribbles all over the children's playgrounds in various squares of the village...

Reader's Comment: This is dangerous!

Prospero was stopped in the street yesterday to hear a complaint about the state of what JimenaPulse has come to call 'the ski slope' -the very steep street up which we are expected to drive thanks to traffic diversions (See item here). "My car just slidesback down, backwards!" said the complainant (and Prosp had to bite his tongue to refrain from saying that she was not used to driving on hills).It happens that as he was taking this photo, he came across Councillor Fernando Gómez, to whom he ,mentioned the concern. Apparently, they are waiting for the Calle Sevilla roadworks to get there so that the ski slope to be repaired. In the meantime we are advised caution, though the street is cleaned of debris every day... (there was a pile of broken tiles dumped near the side of the slope).

Jimena's symbol in danger

This is not the first time we have put this problem up in our 'Fotos Denuncia' section. The bell tower on Plaza Constitución (locally known as El Paseo, it's the main square) became the village's symbol (a wag once called it Jimena's Eiffel Tower) a long, long time ago. The pigeons that inhabit the tower despite efforts to evict them, years ago dropped a very fecund fig seed that has grown out of all proportion. The trouble is that the fig tree, of the ficus family, is notoriously invasive via its roots and will therefore severely damage the tower's cupola if action is not taken very soon: the ancient brickwork is already seriously deteriorated. While the only permanent solution is weedkiller, for the fig tree at least, other vegetation nearby could also be removed with the help of our local fire brigade (when they're not otherwise occupied of course).

Is this your car?

Do you know the owner of this car? A Citroen Xara, Brit registration FG02 TCK, has been parked near the bottom end of Calle Romo for well over a month. It's front right tire is flat, and it's MOT has run out. The Local Police has asked us to ask our readers for information. If the owner is not found, the car is likely to be towed and scrapped.

Where's their 'civic pride'?

This is what the children's playground on El Paseo looked like last night. We were lucky not to have been struck by a football being smashed about by a bunch of pre-teens as we took the picture. Once upon a time, when Prospero was young, there used to be something called 'civic pride', which taught us to be proud and careful of the place where we lived. But in those days, there were policemen about...

Foam bath for dogs or horses

Our sharp-eyed reader Wendy Tong sent in this picture of what has come to be called the trough fountain just above the Friday market site in Jimena. The foam appeared last week. This is not the first time this has happened: other fountains -of which many were built in the municipality last year (see items here and here). Obviously there are those who are amused by such things, but, the water being supposedly recycled, we can't imagine it's too good for the machinery involved... On the other hand, we were witnesses to Francis Cherry offering to try it just in case it might be beer.

Poor animals! These are truly horrendous pictures caused by recent storms

You are warned, they are honestly horrendous, taken by a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. The animals concerned were the victims of floods in the Marchenilla area (we are waiting for more precise details, which we'll offer as soon as possible). Unusually, our tongue is nowhere near our cheek, and we apologize if we put you off your breakfast.>

Rubbishhhh ... do we CARE??

(By Anna Breeker) Rubbish everywhere, and even more rubbish where the rubbish is supposed to be collected.  Rubbish in the streets, rubbish by the river where lots of people come from the cities to enjoy the countryside for a day or for weekends, for us then to enjoy their rubbish after they leave.  It is left all over the place, or at the very best put in bags which are then left by the side of the road, somewhere near the containers.  Do people really think someone else will pick them up and dispose of them?  Gnomes maybe?

 Stray cats and dogs get in at night looking for food and pull the bags to pieces, result:  rubbish all over the road, including glass.>